BLM LAND EXCHANGE
WITH MINING GIANT ASARCO CHALLENGED

The Center for Biological
Diversity (CBD), Seattle-based Western Land Exchange Project and the Grand
Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club today officially appealed a proposed
land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and multi-national
mining corporation Asarco (a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico). The exchange,
which would give Asarco 10,976 acre of public land in exchange for 7,300
acres of the company's private holdings, is designed primarily to facilitate
the expansion of Asarco's Ray Mine, an open-pit copper mine located 65
miles east of Phoenix. The appeal will be heard by the Department of Interior's
Board of Land Appeals based in Washington, D.C.

Located on Mineral
Creek, a tributary of the Gila River, the Ray Mine has operated since
1948. Environmental contamination at the mineincluding routine spills
of industrial pollutants such as copper, cadmium, and berylliumis
so severe that in 1996 the Environmental Protection Agency and Arizona
Department of Environmental Quality sued Asarco for repeated violations
of the Clean Water Act. An environmental contaminants report issued in
1997 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife found that copper levels in fish found
on Mineral Creek are by far the highest recorded nationally. Additionally,
the mine uses approximately 20,000 gallons of groundwater per minute,
resulting in reduced flows to Mineral Creek and the Gila and San Pedro
Rivers, designated critical habitat for endangered species including the
cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, spikedace, and Southwestern willow flycatcher.

"Asarco's Ray Mine complex is one of Arizona's largest industrial
polluters. It is simply inappropriate for the BLM to be trading away our
public lands to expand this facility," stated Brian Segee, attorney
with CBD.

Federal land exchanges
are required by law to be in the public's interest. However, the public
land to be traded away in this exchange contains rare perennial waters
and riparian deciduous forest, and is a priority reintroduction site for
bighorn sheep. Additionally, Asarco would be given land directly bordering
the spectacular White Canyon Wilderness. Once the corporation begins mining,
it would block existing public access to the wilderness.

"The BLM illegally
believed that Asarco would have a right to mine the public lands in the
exchange. Such an erroneous conclusion violates federal law and its own
Department of Interior policy," stated Roger Flynn, attorney for
the groups. "The entire exchange process was skewed towards facilitating
Asarco's mining proposals," continued Flynn.

"Land exchanges
are supposed to be in the public interest, but the only interest being
served here is Asarco's bottom line," said Segee. "Unfortunately,
this is only the latest example of BLM benefitting the mining industry
at the expense of the taxpayer," concluded Segee.

The Center for Biological
Diversity, formed in 1989, is a science-based environmental advocacy organization
with more than 5,000 members which works on wildlife and habitat protection
issues throughout Western North America. The Western Land Exchange Project
(WLXP) is a non-profit, membership organization conducting research, outreach,
and advocacy toward reform in federal land exchange policy. The Grand
Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club works to preserve and protect the environment
and to promote environmental justice. The Grand Canyon Chapter has over
11,000 members in the state of Arizona.

The groups are represented
in their appeal by attorneys Roger Flynn and Jeff Parsons of the Western
Mining Action Project, a non-profit legal advocacy firm based in Boulder,
Colorado representing public interests on mining issues throughout the
West.